Efficient hydrogen evolution over Sb doped SnO2 photocatalyst sensitized by Eosin Y under visible light irradiation

Developing new efficient visible-light-responsive and noble-metal-free photocatalysts to produce hydrogen, as a clean, abundant and renewable future energy source, independent of fossil reserves, is highly needed. For the first time, the efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production from an Eosin Y (EY)-sensitized Sb doped SnO2 system without any noble metal co-catalyst under visible light is reported here. It is worth noting that the doping amount of Sb in SnO2 has a great influence on the photocatalytic H2 evolution activity in this EY-sensitized photocatalytic system. After sensitization by EY, the optimum photocatalytic H2 evolution activity under visible light can be achieved by 0.39 at% Sb doped SnO2 and reaches 49.94 μmol h-1, which is 2.02 times higher than 24.71 μmol h-1 of non-doped SnO2 and also superior to most of the reported dye-sensitized noble-metal-free photocatalysts. Mechanism study indicates that doping Sb in SnO2 can induce bandgap narrowing, defects formation and conductivity enhancement, which play competitive roles in the photocatalytic H2 evolution.